Honor and Disgrace: Battle of Opposites
Outskirts of Sunagakure, Land of Wind As the wind blew from the east, Bakuha Hakoda slowly made his way to the village of Sunagakure. Why you may ask? Practice, nothing more. He had no intention of hunting down the Kazekage, for now. The wind soon sped up, sand being thrown everywhere. "Perhaps a sandstorm is coming." Bakuha thought as he continued through the harsh desert. Informed of a mysterious shinobi, who was wearing heavy robes, traveling across the desert towards Sunagakure, Sakyū rushes from the safety of the village to meet this person. If a battle was to occur she wouldn't have it anywhere near the innocents of Suna. She was the type of Kage to lead from the front, not to sit idly by as potential enemies move in. Dashing across the sand with incredible speed she spots a man clan in heavy robes. Stopping several paces she stops her progression and yells out to Bakuha, "What business do you have here?" Prepared for the worst she braces herself while keeping a stern eye on her target. Looking up from the sand, a woman could be seen several meters away. As he continued to walked toward her, he realized she was the Kazekage. He immediately stopped, then bowed. "Lord Kazekage, I assure you that I have not come to harm your village. I merely came for a spar. If you'd wish to decline, that is not an option. I have come by orders, and must abide by them." he said, staring at the official with intent. "Orders? So he's working for someone else," Sakyū thinks to herself. "If you have come here on orders then there is no point in trying to convince you to act otherwise, but you understand that it would be foolish of me to believe someone such as yourself," the Kazekage begins coldly, "As such, I hope you can understand that it is my duty to eliminate potential threats to the village. Therefore, we are both aware of what is about to transcend. Do what you must, and I will follow suit." Nodding, Bakuha slowly made his way towards the Kage, hands concealed in his robes. As he moved, his steps were short, but very precise. No movement was wasteful, they all had a purpose. When he was in range, he threw one of his knives, sending it straight towards Sakyū's stomach. Using that as a distraction, he charged at her, other knife in hand, ready to attack when it was right. Knocking away the knife with what appeared to be her bare hand, as if swatting a fly, the Kazekage maintains her composure as Bakuha moves in towards her. Raising her opposite hand towards the mysterious invader, Sakyū appears to be waiting for him to move into range. Shocked by the Kage's sheer power, Bakuha jumped back. As she raised his opposing hand, he glared at her, his chakra levels rising. "Heh, so you're pretty strong. I wouldn't expect any less from the Kage of Sunagakure. Now, let's start the real battle." he said as he raised his own hand. "Don't forget you're the one on the offensive," the Kazekage begins with a hint of regality in her voice, "I merely have to withstand you for as long as I choose." "Hmph, fair enough." the Akatsuku member replied. Almost simultaneousnessly, Bakuha infused his chakra with the sand beneath them and compacted it. He then threw the clumped up sand at the woman at intense speeds. "Have fun with that." he thought as he waited for the Kazekage's next move. "Earth Release? Something's off though," the Kazekage thought to her self as a blade of wind, of unknown origin, sliced through the clumps of sand and honed in on Bakuha. Raising her hand towards her opponent as her technique moved in Sakyū waited for the next exchange. "Hmm, this is gonna be tricky." Bakuha thought as he once again drew his knife and charged at the Kage of Sunagakure. As the slicing wind closed in, he made a complete stop and let the wind hit him! Surprised by the apparent simplicity of the occurance in front her the Kazekage watched as Bakuha was ripped in half by the wind technique. While her experience in combat informed her that the fight was just beginning, Sakyū seemed puzzled by her opponent's odd behavior. As he was bifurcated, Bakuha made a startling grin and turned into a watery version of himself. He then gave a loud laugh and spoke. "Heh, do you really think I killed myself? It was merely my Water Replacement. Now, let's get serious." he said as he ran straight forward, knife aimed at Sakyū's heart. Remaining silent, the Kazekage equally rushes her opponent and, utilizing the misleading shape of her robes, allows the knife to pass through her robes. Doing this allows her to most likely position herself well beyond her opponent's line of defense as she places her palm millimeters in front of Bakuha's chest. Slightly startled by the Kazekage's brashness, Bakuha placed his own palm on her. He then pushed off of her, although leaving behind a strange seal on her arm. As he pushed off, he ran several feet away, trying to maintain a safe distance. "Lets see her block this technique." "Curious, first he places a seal upon me, and now he is retreating. Obviously he's trying to get out of range," Sakyū ponders before disappearing from her location and appearing before Bakuha. "Do you think I would give you the distance you desire?" she questions before launching a wave of flame, hot enough to melt the sand that it pass over, towards her opponent. "Shoot!" Bakuha yelled as he ran at top speed, trying to evade the large flaming wall. As he sped about, he realized he had gotten out of range. Giving a smirk, he yelled, "Release the Seal!", causing the seal on Sakyū's arm to glow. It would soon explode into a large tornado. Although he was out of range, he was still hit by the wave of flames. Falling to the ground, he patted out the flames, revealing several scars from the burns, as well as turning his robes into tatters. "At least I injured her." he thought as he started to stand. As a large cloud of debris developed from the tornado summoning seal Bakuha may be able to see the Kazekage's hat being knocked away into the wind. From within the shroud of sand Sakyū looks down at her arm in disappointment, "Broken? Perhaps not quite, but it wont be able to take another attack like that." Despite her nonchalant behavior she had sustained a significant amount of damage from that last technique. Lowering her injured arm to her side she knocks the dust away from herself with a powerful gust of wind and looks over at her opponent with a menacing glare, "I think I've just about figured his techniques out." Bakuha stood up, giving a slight smirk. "So, do you realize how dangerous it is to fight one off the Hakoda clan?!" he asked, giving a menacing laugh. He then stood still, waiting for the Kazekage's next move. Without offering a single word in response Sakyū detonates a powerful explosion directly adjacent to Bakuha's face. "Hakoda...I see," she speaks quietly to herself. Being blown back by the resulting explosion, Bakuha tried to get up, but was unable to. "Ah! My ankle is sprained. I'll just have to deal with it." he thought to himself as he slowly made his way up. "Hmm, you have the Sanso, don't you?" he asked, making an educated guess towards her abilities. "You're obviously intelligent...to bad we weren't allies," the Kazekage responds coldly detonating another explosion near her opponent's chest hopefully before Bakuha prepared himself properly. Bakuha easily moved back, avoiding the blast. "Pfft. You believe that I'd fall for the same trick twice? What do you take me for?" he asked, making a slight chuckle. "And yes, it is a shame that we are not allies." Taking a deep breath, he continued. "However, I do believe we, not my organization, could make a truce." Pondering the options the Kazekage decides to consider Bakuha's proposition, "I will listen to a truce...but I will require explicit terms." "Ah, I've caught her attention for once." Bakuha thought to himself as he began to speak. "And these terms would be?" "You never set foot within the borders of this country again, and in turn Sunagakure will not target your clan for your actions on this day," the Kazekage explains seriously, "Furthermore, the events of this day will never be spoken of or recalled publicly. Fair enough?" "Sounds okay to me. But we will finish this spar, or our truce is relinquished, fair enough?" Bakuha said, mocking the Kazekage's own words. "He's become much less serious," the Kazekage ponders while preparing for the next exchange, "I don't expect the difficultly level, or the danger potential, to decrease now. So, I better stay on guard." Repositioning herself several feet to the left Sakyū keeps a sharp eye on the competition, "I do believe it is your move." Bakuha swiftly grabbed several kunai, tags attached, and threw them at incredible speeds towards the Kage of Sunagakure. As the flurry of weaposn flew towards her, he rush at her with his a knife in hand. "Lets see what you do now." he thought as his knife began to glow. Acting quickly Sakyū creates a single shadow clone which she hurls into the incoming explosives. The kunai stick into the clone which continues on its trajectory towards Bakuha. As the rigged explosion sails toward her opponent the Kazekage seemingly prepares for the next exchange. Thinking on his feet, Bakuha quickly transfered himself with the clone, thereby escaping without harm. He then continued his rush, with his knife glowing increasingly bright. As it was glowing, the image of a baku began to appear. Following suit Sakyū moves in towards Bakuha unarmed with a sense of confidence about her. Despite the fact that she wasn't a sensor, the Kazekage could recognize the potency of her opponent's chakra as she advanced. As they closed in on each other, Bakuha gave a smirk. "Release!" he said, causing a large baku to envelop him. He continued to charge, the force of a giganitc beast on his side. "Interesting," Sakyū whispers while performing two hand seals while continuing her movement towards the beastly mass of chakra. Just as they appear to collide the Kazekage appears to simply pass through Bakuha a split second before an explosion detonates millimeters in front of the Hakoda's path. Turning around the Kazekage carefully observes the effects of her attack. Bakuha, with a incredibly suprised face, jumped back, arms covering his face. As he is thrown back from the explosion, he lands on his left arm, feeling a shooting pain all the way up to his shoulder. "Darn it! It's got to be broken!" he thought. He continued to lay there, baku still protecting him. He instantly hardened the chakra of the baku, making it useless to attack him. As he laid, he began to think of strategies. "Hmm, well if I do that, she could hit me. But, if I use this, I'm protected and able to attack." He quckly got up, arm still searing with pain. He then made a one-handed seal. Instantly, the wind began to pick up. He then waited, waiting for his adversaries next move. "Definitely not a natural weather phenomenon," the Kazekage thinks as she decides not to advance Bakuha and his chakra shroud directly. "Perfect. I've got her on her toes." he thought as the wind began to zip towards the Kage, cutting through anything in it's path. Quickly performing a few hand seals the Kazekage performs the Force of Flames technique once again, enhancing it with Sanso. The flames blaze a path through the incoming wind only to grow in size before descending upon Bakuha. Before the technique potentially makes contact Sakyū begins to weave another set of hand seals. Bakuha made a slight grin and increased the pressure on the chakra forming the baku. It hardened, causing the line of flames to stop at the baku's skin. He then made another hand seal, causing a strange seal began to form on his arm. "Perfect...he fell for my feint," Sakyū murmurs as she halts her fake seal performance and switches gears. Noticing the change in the opacity of the chakra shroud associated with the Baku hardening the Kazekage performs a most cruel technique. Concentrating considerably she detonates what would be a massive explosion from within the Baku's chakra shroud if it wasn't contained so well. Based on what she observed earlier the Baku's chakra would defend Bakuha, so it would perfect to hold the explosion around her opponent especially with its defense boosted. Bakuha glared that woman. Before he did anything else, he released the Baku around him, having no more use to him at the present time. He quickly detonated the seal, causing the arm that was broken to be blown to bits. He quickly charges the opponent, nothing in his hand. He was gonna wing it. "Just stop," the Kazekage says raising her hand up, "What kind of success do you think you can have with a single arm? You're in a position to retreat and live. I was under the assumption that you were intelligent." Bakuha made a hault. "You're right. I just got so into this battle, that I was willing to go to extremes to continue. I am intelligent, but I'm battle-loving as well." he said, a grim look on his face. Stepping several feet across the battlefield the Kazekage picks up her hat all while keeping an untrusting eye on Bakuha, "I hope that the treaty we discussed is still valid." Dusting of the hat Sakyū waits for her former opponent's response. Making a pathetic face, Bakuha nodded. "Yes, it is still valid. I promise to stay out of Sunagakure until I leave my organization." he said, realizing that his organization was still a secret. Without another word the two warriors turn away from each other to return to their individual bases of operation. Sakyū personally was curious by the existence of Bakuha's organization and planned to look into the subject upon her return to the village. Events that would alter the course of shinobi history were about to transcend.